Good Practice: Evaluate the Program

• Review grants programs every 3-5 years, or when priorities change.
• Develop performance measures at the planning phase for a grants program to provide a basis for reviewing the program's objectives and outcomes.
• Undertake an objective evaluation process which is not led by those involved in the management or administration of the grants program.
• Report the outcomes of the evaluation in the agency's annual report.

Guidelines and Resources

Definition and purpose

Evaluation is a systemic review process of assessing, on the basis of evidence, how well a grants program is doing. Evaluation will provide a guide for future directions in a program.

A review will enable the agency to determine if the program objectives and intended outcomes are still appropriate, relevant and able to be achieved with available resources.

Grants programs need to be reviewed because government priorities may change. The identified needs that a program was designed to meet may no longer exist, or it may be determined that other strategies now may be more effective in achieving the desired outcomes.

Evaluation elements

Deciding the information to be collected is a critical step. Information should only be collected if it:

• can be accurately collected and understood; and
• will inform management decisions about the effectiveness of the agreed actions of a funding recipient and/or the effectiveness of a funding program.

Plan the way evaluation will be conducted when designing a funding program. Make sure that the evaluation can be reported effectively within the broader reporting framework of the funding agency including annual reports; Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and central agency requirements.

Programs should be reviewed in relation to their appropriateness, effectiveness, efficiency and economy.

Appropriateness: is the extent to which stated program objectives and priorities match the needs of the clients of the program. Clients of the program include Government. Evaluations should in the first instance, question whether there are realistic alternatives to Government provision and funding of the program and whether programs are aligned with Government priorities.

Effectiveness: is the extent to which the program outcomes are achieved at a reasonable cost in a reasonable time. Effectiveness asks whether the program is achieving its stated objectives.

Efficiency: is the extent to which the program outcomes are achieved at a reasonable cost and in reasonable time. Efficiency asks what has been achieved with the resources used.

Economy: considers the minimum resources (inputs) needed to achieve the minimum level of service (output) expected of the program.

Using performance indicators

Performance measures should be developed in the planning phase of the program and used for monitoring during the life cycle of the grant and to evaluate the program as a whole. Follow this link to the Plan and Design guidelines.

Follow this link to a Model Evaluation Framework.